CW & AW - Charara - hunt summary

CW with his hippo

CW & his baboon

Buzz with AW & her impala

Buzz with CW & his bushbuck

BK - Hammond Ranch

BK with his zebra stallion

BK & his eland

BK & his first kudu

BK with his second kudu

BK & his buffalo bull

Client Comment

PH: Len Taylor
Previous Safari: None
Present Safari: Hammond Ranch Buffalo and plains game
Rifle: .376 Steyr, Winchester .375 HH, Remington 7mm
Bullet: see below.

Day 1: We started the morning running into a decent sized herd of Buffalo, maybe 75, followed twenty minutes later with a group of six good sized bulls. We weren’t thirty minutes into the hunt and we were just getting a glimpse of the quality of buffalo on the Hammond Ranch. Tracked and stalked a couple of eland under the watchful eye of a couple of giraffe in very thick brush, the giraffe wouldn’t let us get into a shooting position. Right after lunch stalked to with 40 yards of a 400+ herd of buffalo we passed on the bulls that had stayed at the back to face us down. There was an awesome young bull, bosses were still soft, but we guessed he was over 40” already.

Day 2: We stopped and glassed a group of dugga boys all of which were worth taking. We decided to get going we as a leopard hidden away somewhere near by started to grunt at us. We stalked up on the bulls while they were working their way across the dry river basin, picked the one we thought was the best and took him while he was waiting for the others to get up the far embankment. My first shot hit in the shoulder, maybe a couple inches lower then I wanted at about 40 yards. He turned and started running towards us, I broke his jaw with my second, mistiming his head movement and spined him with my third at 15 yards where he collapsed. More on this and bullet selection at the bottom. With the pressure off we could take our time getting at the plains game we were looking for.

Day 4: Spotting a group of Kudu moving through the brush we gauged the wind and worked our way around to for a better approach. After a fair bit of work Len couldn’t have put us in a better position. We were perpendicular to the path the animals were following. We just had to wait for the does to go by. TF took his Kudu at about 35 yards.

Day 5:  We were tracking three Eland bulls for a couple of hours before we finally caught sight of them moving on the fare side of the river basin. We dropped down and hurried along the basin. When we crested the rise they were out of sight. Charles found the tracks quickly and started pursuing. We spotted them again within about ten minutes and took the largest of the three bulls on a quartering away shot at 160 yards. That river basin was to be our friend yet again this day. After lunch we were cruising along the river when we spotted some Kudu on the far side. We got out of the vehicle expecting to find their tracks and proceed to track as had been usual. As we were nearing the far embankment Charles signaled that he could hear them moving around up top. Inching our way up the embankment, sure enough, there he was maybe 20 yards away.  Two kudu in two days and both over 53”, awesome.

Day 6: It turned out that this was going to be another double. I the morning we were on our 8th stalk of a Zebra. They seemed to be the most aware of all the animals we can across. Seemingly more so than even the Impala. We were about an hour into the stalk as they started to head into some deep bush. Waiting to see where they were going to go they turned around and started right back towards us. Not only did they turn around but the stallion was unusually in the front of the pack. He sensed something and stopped allow us to take him from about 50 yards away. After lunch, we glassed a very nice impala. Terry execute another long stalk, his 5th on an impala, and took the buck he was after. I don’t know how far the shot was, I had hung back to make sure that I couldn’t spook the animals.
 
That was it for me. I had what I had come to Africa for. We would spend the next 4 days using every trick in the book to take this bush buck that Terry wanted. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. I cannot thank Len Taylor, Charles and Moses (our PH, Tracker and Driver respectively) enough. The amount of work that they put in to get us in the best possible positions to be successful truly does them credit. They were awesome and I can’t recommend them enough.
 
So, bullet selection. This is very important. On one of my rifles has only one option for manufactured ammo. While I am not going to bash anyone here, I will say that my PH was very negative in his views towards that particular ammunition because of the bullet. In fact he believed that had I “… a proper bullet your buffalo wouldn’t have gone another 10 yrds from your first shot.” When the skinners got into the buffalo the bullet had shattered against the shoulder and even though it broke the shoulder it didn’t slow him down much at all and had I not placed my third shot right where I needed it we might still be looking for him. My PH also said, that this particular bullet has cost his clients a lot of game. Dig into and get hard answers from your guide and PH on ammo, particularly the bullet, it makes a very real difference. I ended up using my PH’s .375 HH with Swift A Frames for the eland and kudu.

MA - Forrestry Area

MA & his buffalo bull

MA & his kudu

Eddie with MA & his ele bull

MA's second trophy bull

Buzz with MA & his 46" sable

Client Comment

This safari started at DSC convention 2016 as I stopped by CMS booth and chatted with Buzz about their different elephant safaris. That night my wife and I were having dinner and Buzz stop by our table and said that he had just had a cancellation and had an opening to hunt one those big bulls in Kazuma. After we worked out the details we were set for October 2016.

Buzz picked me at the airport on October 16 and we were off to Kazuma which is only 1 ½ hour drive. Before we got to camp we had to stop at the Parks office and fill out the proper paper work and find out where we had to pick up our Game Scout. It was then we found out that permit for our elephant had not arrived (they only had 10 months to issue the permit) but that is Africa. They assured us it would be there the next day. After arriving at camp we had a few sundowners and a good dinner I got some much needed sleep.

Day one we had decided we would look for Buffalo and planes game since we didn’t have our elephant permit. Within the first hour we found a nice old Kudu bull and the first trophy was in the salt. Around 11:00 we found tracks of two Dugga Boys and we decided to go have lunch and to track them later that day. We arrived back at the tracks at around 3:00 and at 3:25 we caught the two bulls resting in the shade. Buzz said the one was a good bull not real wide but huge bosses and sense it was several left on quota we could take a second one if we wanted. One shot at 120 yds and the second trophy was in the salt.

When we arrived back at camp our elephant permit had come and we were told that it was another one left on quota if we were interested. They said it would take a couple days to get the permit so we agreed. It would not cost anything unless we took a second bull so why not.

Over the next eight days we tracked and passed over 200 elephants with one having only 1 tusk that we were sure weighed over 70 lbs but we had not gotten the second permit  yet. I want a nice pair of match ivory so I passed. On day 10 we tracked a group of 6 bulls and one we thought would go over 50 lbs that we decided to take. My 1st shot was a little high and just missed the brain and Buzz backed me up and my second shot hit the mark and he went down. I finally had the big Kazuma I had dreamed about for many years. The rest of the day was spent butchering and hauling out the meat.

The second permit had arrived so we were after elephant again on day 12. Just like the days before we found plenty of fresh tracks follow. We split up and 2 trackers followed 6 bulls and Buzz, Criton and I followed 2 bulls. It wasn’t long before we caught our bulls but it was nothing worth taking. The other trackers had radioed us and said they had seen a bull that we should look at. They gave us their location and we set out to find them. When we got to the trackers the bulls had moved and joined up with some more bulls and then split again and one group we followed didn’t have the bull we were looking for. While we were looking over the first group the other bulls had gotten our wind.  We picked up tracks on the second group and after a long hot track we found the bulls resting in the shade. We could tell the bull was larger than the 1st bull I had taken and it was my decision. The bull was behind a small tree and we waited about 20 minutes when another bull off to the side got our wind. The bull turned and gave me a side brain and this time the bull went straight down.

That night we celebrated our success and made plans for the rest of the safari. I told Buzz I would like to get a big Duiker if we could find one and of course Buffalo. Buzz said they had a Sable left if I was interested. I had booked a safari in the Kafue area of Zambia for 2017 which have the biggest Sable in all of Africa, so I told Buzz it would have to be a monster Sable before I would consider taking one.

The next day we found the duiker I had been looking for.  We had seen a couple of really big herds of buffalo that were moving in and out of the park and it was a couple groups of Dugga Boys we had seen tracks of  and it was plenty of sable to look at and some bulls in the 40” range. We had enough buffalo around to keep us busy but just couldn’t find any really big bulls. On day 14 late in the morning we found spoor of a group of Dugga Boys where they had drank at one of the pans. We went back to camp had lunch and a siesta. Around 3:30 we headed back to pick up the spoor and before we got to where we were going I spotted a herd of Sable and one bull really stood out! He looked considerably bigger than anything we had seen. We stopped and glassed him for several minutes and Buzz and I discussed how big the bull was and figured we better take him. As soon as we decided to take him he gathered his herd and started moving off. We were only a ¼ mile from the Botswana boarder and that’s where they were headed. We managed to cut them off several times but it was another very good bull in the herd and we wanted to make sure we got the right one. Finally the rite bull stopped at 100 yds and I had a magnificent 46” sable.

This was safari was one of the best if not the best safari I have ever done. Buzz and everyone at CMS took care of every detail from start to finish. Anyone looking for a great elephant safari can’t go wrong here.

PL & JL - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

PL & his tuskless

PL with his warthog

JL & his tuskless

PL with JL & his baboon

PL & his buffalo bull

PL with JL & his buffalo trophy

OT - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

OT & her first hyena

OT & her impala

OT & her kudu bull

The team with OT's kudu

OT & her 2nd hyena

OT & her baboon

OT & her zebra stallion

OT & her 3rd hyena

OT & her 4th hyena

PS - Dande Safari Area

PS & his first buffalo bull

PS's second trophy bull

PS admiring Patrick Mavros's 100lbs ivory,
similar to the one PS shot himself a few years ago.

I hunted with PS 15 years ago and we tracked and killed a very big lion. It was a great surprise and pleasure to have Pavel back for a late season triple buff hunt. There were LOTS of dugga boys and we got 3 nice ones including a great 40" bull. After tracking for 2 days, we got to within 15 yards before PS shot him. It was a great hunt with a hugely accomplished hunter! I look forward to hunting again with PS - but hope it does not take another 15 years for him to come back!!

3 nice dugga boys in 5 days of excellent hunting. Thanks Buzz camps and organization was excellent - I will be seeing you again!

JH - Hammond - hunt summary

Tracking

Buzz with JH & his buffalo

Buzz with JH & bush pig

JH & his stallion

JH & the buffalo cow that was injured in a snare

JH & his eland

Buzz with JH & duiker

Buzz with JH & his giraffe

JH & 2 impala

JH & his wildebeest

Buzz with JH & his hyena

RD - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

RD with his first tuskless

RD with the team & his
second tuskless

Guinea Fowl

Smoking bees to get to honey

RB - Dande Safari Area

RB & his hippo

RB with his leopard

CW - ZAMBIA - hunt summary

CW's hippo

CW's puku

CW & his hyena

CW & his leopard

LBB - Dande Safari Area

Len with LBB & her leopard

LBB & her tuskless

The team with LBB & her trophy

Len with LBB & her hyena

PT & GU - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

PT & his buffalo bull

GU with PT & his tiger fish

GU & his tiger

PDP with GU & his buffalo bull

GU & PT with their trophies

MV & SV - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

Buzz with MV & his hippo

Home away from home!

Buzz with SV & her cat fish

MV & his cat fish

Nice bream!

Sighting

Buzz with VM & his tuskless

VM & his bushbuck

Kaptenta fishing boat

JA, JLA & NA - Dande Safari Area

Myles with JA & his first
buffalo bull

The team with JA & his
second buffalo bull

JA & his trophy elephant

JA & his tuskless

Alan with JLA & his
trophy elephant bull

The team with JLA & his tuskless

NA with JLA & his buffalo bull

JLA & his croc

The team with JLA & his croc

The c ommunity helping carry
the croc up from the river

KG & Family - Dande Safari Area

KG & Family

Ele stalk

Buzz with KG & his elephant

JB with HB & his leopard

The team with KG & his
tuskless

Birthday Celebration!

Buzz with Easton

Lori & her impala

Lori with her baboon

Client Comment

I arrived in Zim via Emirates (DFW-Dubai-Harare) on July 3.  I took my wife, Lori and 18 year old daughter, Easton, so Lori could try for a buffalo (her third trip to Africa, second with CMS) and so Easton could be exposed to third world culture, travel through a couple of international airports, and see Dubai on the return trip, all as a high school graduation gift to her.  If I were concerned about safety, I would not have taken this precious package.  We flew in a Cessna 206 from Harare to Pedza on July 4, which took about an hour.  We moved to the Mururu Camp which Buzz and I agreed upon last January.  I love this camp in the trees.

It was a ten day hunt for two non-trophy elephant for me and Lori was trying to get a buff.  We tracked buffalo every day, both single and multiple Dugga Boys and herds, walking 8-12 miles each day on track.  We had multiple stalks on buffalo, probably 10 or so, and Lori took one shot through thick limbs and she had the bullet deflected by one on the way to the old buffalo bull for a clean miss.  Bad luck.  We ultimately failed on buffalo, but it was not due to a shortage or sighting or tracking of buffalo or lack of effort by CMS, Buzz or the trackers.  Having hunted most things of interest on earth, I would attribute our lack of success mainly to the blustering and inconsistent winter winds and just bad hunting luck.  Lori took it great and still had a wonderful time.

In just a total of a day of hunting for me, I still killed two non-trophy cow elephant, which makes more than 20 for me.  Buzz and I have proven to be able to kill an elephant about every day or day and a half through the years of killing more than 20 elephant together and I saw this hunt as no different.  We saw many elephant and tracked multiple small herds, which, as you know, is the usual drill.  As reported on AR, we also saw zebra, many kudu, duiker, grysbok, multiple leopard and lion tracks, had a leopard jump across the road right in front of the Cruiser, eland, baboon, hyena, many Impala, and a 15+ foot rock Python, in the middle of the day.  This is actually more plains game than I've seen in past safaris by a considerable degree, but then I am usually tracking elephant every day and looking at the ground.

This was my third trip to Dande (December 2010, June 2014, and this trip).  I saw the most game on this hunt and certainly the most buffalo.  I would offer that DAPU's efforts are evident in the more abundant plains game.  We did remove 20 or so snares in two different locations while tracking buffalo.  Dande offers a wild African hunt in the Zambezi Valley for buffalo.  It is certainly no South African ranch hunt, it is not a Save Conservancy or Bubye Valley hunt, and it is not even a Selous Game Reserve hunt, meaning it is more challenging and, in turn, more rewarding.  I came home in 2002 from a 10 hunt in Tanzania with zero buffalo, from Alaska in 2009 with no grizzly (I had two permits), and from British Columbia in 2013 with no grizzly.  That is hunting and just part of the game.  It is challenging and there is a risk of failure.  I frankly think Lori's experience was a fluke and the CMS experience for the year has proven that theory.

I do know that you get maximum effort from CMS and Buzz.  All aspects of the controllable issues were not just adequate, but were excellent.  This was my 14th Safari including Tanzania, Zim and South Africa (once).  This was my 6th safari with CMS.  I was very pleased with my hunt which ended on July 15, arriving at DFW on July 17.  We had no problem in Dubai, no problems with customs anywhere and no concerns about security.  Zim is having a cash crunch, but it is always having something.  In 2005 I was hunting in Chete with Buzz and there was a presidential election going on.  It did not affect our hunt or my travels.

JB & HB - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

JB with HB & his leopard

HB & his kudu bull

JB with HB & his sable

The team with HB & his croc

HB with his hippo bull

On the shores of the Zambezi

JB's tiger fish

JB's big cat fish

DO - Dande Safari Area

DO with his leopard

The proud team with DO & his lion

DO & his trophy lion

Client Comment

We had a truly great experience. Len and his crew were awesome, the accommodations and food were wonderful. Everything was more than we expected and we will highly recommend anyone to come to CM Safaris for the experience of a lifetime.

KW - Dande Safari Area

KW & his kudu

KW with his civet

Lunch!

KW & his baboon

KW's hyena

KW with his buffalo bull

KW & his bushbuck

Baby sand grouse

Client Comment

Excellent hunt, good trackers and crew. Guide was on point at all times. Managed to hunt a good number of animals. No hassles, very accommodating.

GW - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

GW & his buffalo bull

GW with the team & his trophy

BM - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

BM tracking across the river

BM with his baboon

Alan & BM with his elephant bull

BM & his fantastic trophy bull

JJ - Hammond Ranch - hunt summary

JJ with his zebra stallion

JJ & the team with his buffalo cow

Hanging bait

Leopard blind

JJ & his leopard

Rich with JJ & his fantastic trophy

JJ looking over the valley

JJ & his zebra stallion

The team

JJ & his eland

Buffalo charging!

JJ & his wildebeeste

JJ with his klipspringer

Rich & JJ with his buffalo bull

Inside a large baobab

JJ & his giraffe

JJ & his second buffalo bull

JJ fantastic trophy bag!

NF - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

NF with his baboon

NF & his bait buffalo cow

NF's fantastic leopard

NF & his leopard

NF's buffalo bull

NF & his hyena

Tiger fish

OT - Dande Safari Area - hunt summary

OT & her impala

OT's hyena

OT & her buffalo bull

OT's leopard

OT & her trophy

DP & CB - Hammond Ranch - hunt summary

Hammond Camp

CB ready for his hunt

DP & his buffalo

CB with his buffalo

Runde river

CB with his zebra

CB & his impala

CB & Courtney

CB klipspringer

CB with Buzz

The red cliffs

JT - Hammond Ranch - hunt summary

JT starting his safari

JT with his impala

Elephant

Stones protecting a baobab from elephant

Buzz with JT & his wildebeeste

Red Cliffs

Buzz with JT & his 1st zebra

JT looking over the valley

Buzz doing a perfect star jump

The team with JT & his eland

JT's buffalo bull

Buzz with JT & his buffalo bull

Kudu bull watching the team

JT's elephant bull

Buzz with JT & his trophy bull

JT & his 2nd zebra